Treat You Better
by Phan5ever-OTP
Summary: This is my first Dramione, based on Shawn Mendes' song Treat You Better, where Ron is the abusive boyfriend and... You'll get it when you'll read it, so go read it! I'm not good at summaries. I also don't know if the rating is correct. I guess we'll find out!
1. Chapter 1

Treat You Better- Shawn Mendes

 **I based most of this one on the video, which made me cry the first time I saw it because I am a sucker for Shawn Mendes. Draco is Shawn, Hermione is the girl (duh) and Ron is the abusive boyfriend. I actually strongly dislike the concept of Romione, no matter how canon it is. So yeah. This is my first "abusive boyfriend" Dramione and my first Dramione too. I don't know how to write this stuff so I tried my best. I'm not that good at fluffy-ness so… Yeah. Hermione is a little OOC**

 **Also, I'm sorry if there's already a Shawn- based fiction written already, I didn't mean to plagiarize anything. Tell me if I did, and I'll instantly remove this. Okay?**

The day was bright, the sun shone on them and the birds chirped. It was moving day, and they had boxes plied up in this big, beautiful apartment she had bought for both of them to share.

Hermione had never been happier as she unpacked her clothes, pictures, some random ornaments and decorations. Yes, she and Ron had only been dating for a month now, but it felt like the right thing to do. Ron loved her and she loved him. And they had known each other since they were eleven. You could say this was more than the average relationship.

A few weeks passed when it first happened. Their first fight. It wasn't a bright day at all. It had been raining heavily since morning, but the weather wasn't unusual as this was London.

She didn't remember what the fight was about. But she never forgot how the tempers were rising, how he had come back drunk after a long shift with Harry, how his hand rose. In her memories, it always happened slowly, and she saw it move, unable to defend herself at all. She remembered how the impact shocked her to the core, how her body didn't respond for a few seconds. And that was all the time he needed, using her frozen state to land another slap.

And another.

Then a punch.

She fell.

A kick. One more. It didn't stop.

She didn't know how long it lasted. She just lay there, in shock, thinking it was a dream, that this man, the man she loved- he couldn't hurt her; he was supposed to help her. He was supposed to be her strength, wasn't he? He was supposed to help her up, not push her down, wasn't he?

She remembered the next morning, how she woke up with bruises all over her, she remembered how he was already up. He pleaded for her to forgive him, saying he didn't know, that he was drunk and he had had no control over his actions.

Hermione, surprisingly, forgave him. Looking back on all the days he had come home late and drunk, she marveled at how she hadn't just hexed his arse off. She wondered why the hell she had just let it happen and why she never fought back.

But Hermione, you see, was tired. She was tired of fighting, of the war, of being strong. So she decided at the worst time possible that she would become passive. At her own expense, too.

Every night, she convinced herself that Ron loved her, that it was just the alcohol abusing her, not him.

Every morning, she went to work with concealment charms all over her.

Hermione had opened up a library, in which both muggle and magical books were sold. It was here that she met the reformed Death Eater, Draco Malfoy, who came to the shop on the same day her and Ron had first fought.

"Granger, good to see you after such a long time. Typical that you'd be working at a library, though."

She rolled her eyes. After a year of working with Draco, she now was used to his teasing. He had switched sides during the war, helping Harry and Hermione find the horcruxes when Ron left them in the middle of the woods. When Ron came back, he was furious at seeing Draco working with them, but in the end he decided to "let him stay".

"I'm not just working at the library, Malfoy; I bloody well own the shop."

Malfoy's eyebrow rose. He nodded; bought the books he was looking for, and then left.

He came back every day, sometimes to buy a book, sometimes to just sit and read. Hermione got used to his company quickly, and found herself constantly talking to him, telling him random stories off the top of her head.


	2. Chapter 2

_**CHAPTER TWO**_

Two or three weeks after "The Incident" as Hermione called it, Draco struck up a conversation with Hermione and asked her to find him an apartment, as he was hoping to get away from the suffocating atmosphere of the Malfoy Manor.

Luckily, or as fate would have it, an apartment had just opened up right next to her and Ron's.

Draco moved in a couple of days later. It was by now that Ron came home drunk every night. Hermione was afraid of him more than ever, and she found herself pleading him, begging him to just stop, stop hurting her, to just talk to her instead, to take the sobering potion she had made for him, for Ron to come out of his drunk, abusive state.

He slapped, kicked and punched while she screamed and argued. It was an unending cycle, the beating, the screaming and then the morning after, where he would convince her he loved her.

Why did Hermione not stop him? Why did she remain in that cycle, why didn't she ask for help? By now, even Hermione didn't know. All she knew was that he was the one that she wanted.

Though she was beginning to doubt that.

* * *

The day Draco moved in was fairly normal- Ron came in sober, the first time in... Well, in a long time. Perhaps it was because Hermione had informed him of Malfoy moving in. Not at night, when he was beating her up, oh heavens no, but at morning when he was in process of leaving for work at the ministry.

Ron insisted at meeting Draco, to welcome him properly. Hermione felt slightly uneasy, but she agreed. She had been planning on doing so, but later, when Ron was out of the equation. "Ah, well", she thought, "what could go wrong?"

Thankfully- nothing did. Draco was pleasantly surprised to be visited by both Ron and Hermione.

"Nice to see you, Weasley. And Granger. How's life treating you?"

Nothing wrong happened, but it was extremely awkward. While Hermione and Draco always got along splendidly, and there was never an awkward moment around them, with Ron sitting there trying to make jokes, it made them uncomfortable. They left soon enough, after having a drink or two with Draco. Hermione was worried Ron would end up saying something wrong or would drink too much, but he didn't. It was the best behavior he had been on in a long time. Hermione was almost grateful, before she realized she had every right to ask her _boyfriend_ to be on a good behavior every once in a while.

It was the first time she had gotten a thought like that, but it wasn't the last.

The next few days were calm, it was almost like Ron had decided to not drink for once, to not hurt her every night and Hermione, once again, was grateful, until she once again realized that a boyfriend that didn't abuse her for a few days wasn't supposed to be that big of a deal, it was supposed to be a _normal thing._

But after a total of five days, he went out with a few colleagues, drank his liver inside out, and came home completely sloshed. He apparated right outside the apartment, taking out his keys, making a racket with the difficulty he was having in opening the door. Finally getting the key in the lock, he entered, saying "Honey, I'm homeeee" with slurred words and lots of stumbling.

Hermione looked up from the book she had been reading, scared and also slightly disappointed. She had hoped that Ron would've given up drinking by now, but she had clearly been wrong. She stood up, straightening imaginary wrinkles from her clothes, breathed in deeply, and got ready for the attack that was sure to come. She just prayed he'd go easy on her.

Unlikely.

 **EVERYTHING IS MOVING FAST BUT I DON'T REGRET A THING. ALSO, HERE YA GO, A CLIFF HANGER!**


	3. Chapter 3

_**CHAPTER THREE  
**_

Hermione cleared her throat, already practicing what she would say. If you put aside the ninety-nine percent of terror filling her, you'd see a small piece of her that was shaking its head in disappointment.

She decided her strategy this time was to act completely normal. If that didn't work… Well, she'd try to knock some sense into him, as always.

"Ron! You're home! How was your day?"

"Shut up, Granger. God, you scream so much. Can't you leave in peace for just a small amount of time? Useless bitch. I don't even know why I stay with you. Look at you, with your disgusting hair, your non-existent fashion sense. The only good thing about you is that you're smart, and honestly, that's just not enough. Useless. Shouldn't stay with you. You don't deserve a man like me. Do you, _Hermione?_ "

* * *

 **Hermione P.O.V (A/N I Can't do third person for that long it's hard okay.)**

His words pierced through me, awakening every single insecurity I had locked away. Tears pricked my eyes. I blinked them away.

"You don't mean that, Ron, honey. Now, come on, dear, let's get you to bed so you can sleep the alcohol off, hmm?" I said in a sickeningly sweet voice, trying to come off as kind and not patronizing.

"Don't treat me like a child. I know what I'm doing." He said, curling his hand into a fist while staring at me.

"And what are you doing, Ron dear?" I said, trying to stall in any way possible.

"I'm giving you what you deserve." He said and punched me straight in the stomach.

I doubled over in pain, holding my stomach. I sobbed loudly, begging him to stop, screaming incomprehensibly, desperately, as he continued to punch, slap and kick any part of me he could reach.

And that was when the door banged open and a furious looking man with platinum blonde hair pushed Ron off of me.

Draco.

 **Here, have yet another cliffhanger.**

 **I'm sorry it's so short.**

 **Like literally you could read it in thirty seconds.**

 **Oh, well...**

 **Review! ^-^**

 **I promise the chapters will get longer, just give me some time.**


	4. Chapter 4

_**CHAPTER FOUR  
**_ I watched with terror still inside me as Draco punched Ron, as he collapsed, unconscious. He raised his fist again, clearly angry.

"Stop! Stop! Don't hurt him, Draco, it's not his fault, he's drunk, it's not him, it isn't Ron, stop Draco, please STOP!" I shouted, worried, scared for Ron.

"Stop? You're telling me to stop? He was hurting you, Hermione! He- he- Look at you! You're bruised all over, your lip is bleeding, and you have tears streaming down your face! He did this to you! And you want me to stop? Are you under some spell? Some potion? Is he influencing you in some way? Blink once for yes, twice for no."

"Draco, I'm not under any curse. He's just drunk, and he's not in his senses. When he wakes up tomorrow, he'll regret it, and apologize."  
"Are… Are you sure Hermione? Are you sure he's the one you want?"  
I was shocked at Draco's forwardness, but nevertheless, I answered.

"Yes, Draco. He's the one I want. I love Ron, and I just know he loves me."  
Draco looked at me carefully. I could feel his stare, could feel him analyzing me and calculating my every move.

"Hermione, has this happened before?"  
I closed my eyes. I didn't want anyone to know. I didn't want anyone finding out. But this was _Draco_. I could trust him, couldn't I?

But what if he tells Harry? What if he calls the authorities? We were living in Muggle London, surely the police would report abuse. What if they took Ron away? I was scared.

"Promise me you won't tell anyone about this. Promise me this incident will never be repeated back to anyone else, Draco. Promise me."  
"I promise you Hermione, I won't tell anyone. But you didn't answer my question."

"No. A promise isn't enough. I need you to make a temporary Vow."

"And I'm guessing you're the one who'll have the power to remove it?"

"Well, yeah. I think that was slightly obvious, Malfoy. Honestly." I said with a smile on my face. I hurt all over, but somehow, around Draco, I forgot that for a while.

"Alright, do the thing then answer my question, I'm not letting you get away that easily, Granger."

So then, to quote Draco, I "did the thing" and then, since it was safe to do so, I told him the truth.

"A month and a half ago, when you first came to my book store, he came home drunk. It was exactly like this, but there was no angel that came to save me, and there was no end to it, not until I temporarily passed out. I woke up three hours later to see the sun was halfway up and Ron was lying next to me, awake. He apologized, and he said he loved me. I know he does. I know he loves me. He just has an issue with alcohol, and after you shifted here he backed off for a while, but I guess he went out with his friends again. It's fine, Draco, I know it isn't the real him that's doing this."

"So you're saying this _has_ happened before. And you're saying that every day ever since I first discovered that book shop of yours, you've been a victim of an abusive relationship? And you're saying he's an addict, and he beats you up like you're a side of beef every night, but… He loves you? Anything else?"

"Well… He insults me, tells me I'm ugly, that I'm useless, that the only thing I have going for me is my brain, and even that isn't good enough anymore, but what's true is true. He's just stating facts."

"… Stating facts? Hermione, these aren't facts! Facts are supposed to be true. They're lies, Granger, I mean, come on, I thought you knew that! You're beautiful. And he doesn't love you. Don't blame it on alcohol. Drunk words are sober thoughts, he doesn't love you, Granger, and if he did, he'd never hurt you, drunk or not. I can see that knocking some sense in your head is difficult, especially at bloody two in the morning, so how about you and I go for a cup of coffee in the morning?"

"You're taking this extremely well, aren't you, Draco?"

"I'm not, it's just that I'm in a delirious state and I'm having difficulty processing that _the_ Hermione Granger is in a situation you'd only see in soap operas and books, a situation I'd call cliché if it wasn't for the fact that there is nothing funny about this." **(A/N At least Draco knows this is cliché AF)**

"I guess you're right about the cliché. And I guess it is a little difficult to process that the Hermione Granger, war heroine and bookworm extraordinaire would be in a relationship like this."

"So you agree the fact that you shouldn't be in a relationship with Ron Weasley?"

Silence.

Yes, I agreed, that being in a relationship like this was… not beneficial to my health. But I had a future to think about, and who would be with me, other than Ron? I didn't want to search for another man, I didn't want to be independent anymore, I was done being Hermione, war heroine. I just wanted a normal life, and if I have to suffer a little bit to get my life, then I will.  
Besides, it's just a phase. He'll be back to _my_ Ron soon enough. I just need to have faith and wait. I owe him that much, don't I?

And with Ron, I feel free. I feel like a dangerous woman, I feel special, wanted, important.

Or, at least, I used to.

But I wouldn't tell Draco all of that. He wouldn't understand.

 _Maybe he would understand_

No, he wouldn't.

 _You'll never know unless you try. Tell him what you're thinking._

I'll tell him some of the truth… I'll see how he reacts.

"Draco, listen. I know this relationship that Ron and I have is toxic. I know it's bad. But it wasn't always like this. Ron isn't an abusive man, it's just the alcohol inside him that's doing this to him. My Ron is in there somewhere, and I know I can bring him out of this shell he's put on in the last few months. I'm not giving up on him. I won't. I know he's in there somewhere. I just know it."

He sighed. Looked at me, carefully, calculating his next words.

"Alright. I'm giving up, but only for now. You're meeting me tomorrow for a cup of coffee and hopefully a long discussion about why you're an idiot and you should listen to me. Got it? Now, I have to go. Do you need help with this drunken mess?"

"No, I can do it."

"Are you sure? I mean… Can you handle it? What if he wakes up again? What if h-"  
I cut him off.

"I'm not a bloody damsel in distress, Malfoy. I've handled more than a few punches from his hands. I'll be fine. Now go. And Draco?"

"Yes?"

"Thank you."

He grinned and me and got up.

"Goodnight, Granger. And good luck."

 **I don't even know what the hell that was. WHAT JUST HAPPENED? WHAT THE HELL?**

 **I don't know. But I like it so...**

 **I think the next chapter should be Draco's POV, don't you? I think it's time to see what was going on in his mind during this whole fiasco.**

 **Anyways, please review and tell me what you think! I want to know if people actually, genuinely like what I'm writing!**

 **Also, I love all of you. Please stay safe and happy. And please understand that a relationship like this one is terrible and I am not justifying it in** _ **any**_ **way. If you're with someone who abuses you, in** _ **any**_ **way, be it verbal or actual, physical abuse,** _ **do not stay in that relationship**_ **.** _ **Leave as soon as possible. Nothing good is going to come out of it.**_

 **Please review! BYEEEEEE**


End file.
